Kevin van Veen reckons Motherwell showed balls of Steel to stop Celtic getting much of a sniff against the Fir Park men.
The Dutch fans favourite bagged his 24th goal of the term with his sensational leveller at Parkhead – to end Ange Postecoglou’s perfect home record and halt a run of 17 straight domestic wins. Van Veen said: “Celtic are miles ahead of everybody, for me. To go to their stadium and get a point, it feels like a victory. You need to be respectful – but you need to have a pair of balls. You have to come here and not be scared, because if you get scared they will roll you over.
“They smell fear so if you have the ball, you need to try things and put them on the back foot. Sometimes there will be gaps, there will be chances. I thought, 'every time I get the ball I'm going to try something'. If I lay it back – boring! So I think with no fear and a really good structure as the gaffer set us up, everything worked out the way we wanted it to.”
Van Veen didn’t need much of a sniff to strike. He said: “I was lurking and waiting for that chance. I felt like I could take them on when I got the ball at my feet. I thought if I could get (Greg) Taylor or (Carl) Starfelt, there was a chance. (Cameron) Carter-Vickers is less of a chance because he’s the best defender in the league. I ended up against Taylor and thought, ‘This is my moment to take him on.’ I showed him left and right. He gambled wrong, I gambled right, then I slotted it past Joe Hart – an amazing feeling.”
Van Veen is hot on the heels of Kyogo for the top scorer crown and he said: "Kyogo is the best striker in the league. He's the man with the most brains for me, he's clever. Of course I'm trying to put pressure on but all due respect to Kyogo, he's amazing, but I need to look after myself as well. I've got five more games, 24 goals already and everybody laughed at me when I talked about getting 30. When I hit the mark I want to rub everyone’s noses in it!”
Van Veen was the hero but he hailed his gaffer Stuart Kettlewell for rescuing Motherwell’s season. He said: “He’s such a good, good manager, so detailed, so professional, he knows everything. At the start, maybe we were thinking oh, it’s another academy coach pushing through, although he had a spell at Ross County. But you ask every single lad in that dressing room. He’s amazing and he prepares us so well. I’m very lucky to have him as my gaffer and everyone thinks the same.”
Van Veen’s exploits this season won’t go unnoticed and the big striker knows he could face a big decision this summer – but he won’t take it lightly. He said: “I love this club, from cleaner to chef, from fans, I love everybody, the club feels like home to me. But on the other hand, because I'm 31 and I feel like I'm in my prime, I'm feeling very good. If there's someone coming in and it feels like the right step, can it be my last move, I will have a conversation with the club and the gaffer.
"That might be my last chance so maybe we can all have a green light and everybody's happy because if that's the case, and they do get certain money for me, then I'm helping the club too. I won't press anything through because that's my respect to this club, they gave me the chance to perform at this level.”
